Prison Telecom Company Forced To Give Back Half The Money It Stole From Families Of Prisoners

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.wonkette.com/global-tel-link-lawsuit

Every year, American families spend more than $1.4 billion calling their relatives in prison. This is indicative both of the incredible number of people we have in prison, as well as the predatory nature of the telecom companies that make it incredibly expensive to call them, frequently more than a dollar a minute (and up to $14 a minute before the FCC capped rates in 2015).

But one of those companies is getting a little karma this week. In the last decade prison telecom giant Global Tel Link (GTL) has seized $121 million from prepaid accounts it had deemed inactive. People would pay a certain amount of money into a prepaid account in order to talk to someone in prison, but if it went unused for a certain amount of time the company would declare it inactive and just take the money. Some people call this "stealing."

Following the resolution of a class action lawsuit alleging that GTL had unjustly enriched itself by converting the money in "inactive" accounts to revenue, the company will be required to pay back $67 million of that money in refunds and credits to plaintiffs who had their accounts deemed inactive after less than 180 days, which is at least something. Obviously it would have been preferable for GTL to have to pay back all the money it stole, but that would involve treating it the way poor people who steal money are treated, and that would just be silly.

Though it is pretty ironic that so many of the people who use the company's services are using them because they stole far less than $121 million.

*snip*

[zuul]

1. And no one is going to jail for this crime. As usual.

[CrispyQ]

2. So sick of our predatory capitalistic system where theft & exploitation are fine if it's profitable.

I had this happen with a few gift cards some time ago. I totally forgot about one & found it behind some cards in my wallet. Logged on & the site said my card was no longer valid, even though there wasn't an expiration date printed on the card.

[Demovictory9]

3. Making money off the poor and.vulnerable

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. A nation of laws of, by, and for the wealthy.

[Thunderbeast]

5. The Prison Industrial Complex ...

...is a machine that prints cash by the boatload.

The fees charged to establish, refresh, and utilize these accounts are exorbitant. Companies set up "profit sharing" (aka kickback) contracts with incarcerating governments. This creates "slush funds" with no accountability.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. The PIC is a money machine and y'all know what I'm going to say.

UNREFORMABLE. K&R.